Stock Picker Says Bring on the Trade War as Trump Ups Rhetoric

(Bloomberg) -- Bring on the trade war, or at least the volatility that comes with it, says one Australian stock picker.

Avenir Capital Pty says it welcomes developments such as the tariff spat between the U.S. and China because they whipsaw equity markets, giving investors an opportunity to pick good companies trading at discounts.

U.S. President Donald Trump sent U.S. equity futures tumbling in early Asian trading Friday by ordering his administration to consider imposing levies on an additional $100 billion in Chinese imports, racheting up the tensions again after they ebbed earlier in the week. While other investors reacted negatively to the news, Adrian Warner, chief investment officer of the Sydney-based money manager, said it was a positive.

“The more factors that are at play making the market a very emotional and short term-natured beast, the better for us,” Warner said by phone. “The volatility that we've had in the first quarter of this year is great for us because it throws up all sorts of wonderful opportunities.”

An index of global equities fell last quarter for the first time in two years. In a difficult market, Warner's Avenir Global Fund beat more than two-thirds of peers last month, but it still lost 0.5 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

--With assistance from Sarah McDonald

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Burgess in Sydney at mburgess46@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Tom Redmond, Chris Nagi

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